Week 17 - July 16, 2006

The South Rises Again

Things are looking up Down South, as the three teams below the Mason-Dixon Line combined to go 16-6 this week. It's hottest in Hot-lanta, where the Marietta Mighty Men went a league-best 6-1 to jump into a tie for 5th place overall -- all the way up from 10th place last week! The Mites' meteoric rise was fueled by an eight-game winning streak that finally ended with a loss in Sunday's night game... The Carolina Mudcats went 5-2, including an active five-game winning streak, to pad their lead in the Morris Division and the league's second-best record. In fact, they're now closer to 1st place (4½ games) than to 3rd (5 games)... The other team emitting a rebel this week were the Arkansas Golden Falcons, who went 5-3 to take sole possession of 7th place, and move within a half-game of the final playoff spot.

It wasn't as good a week outside of the Land of Cotton -- in fact, just three of the remaining 11 teams had winning weeks, while three more broke even. The best record was turned in by the D.C. Bushslappers, who went 5-2 to climb up from 14th place to 13th place. Also moving up were the Honolulu Sharks, who went 5-3 to improve from 13th to 12th. This week's only other winning team were the Hoboken Cutters, who went 4-3 to move up from 6th place into the tie for 5th... Three teams went 4-4 -- the Newark Sugar Bears, who continue coasting on the league's best record; the 4th-place Vancouver Ironfist, who are just percentage points away from claiming the top wildcard seed; and the Hillsborough Hired Hitmen, who are in 9th place but just 1½ games out of a playoff spot.

That leaves five teams heading in the wrong direction, led by the Westwood Deductions, who went a league-worst 1-7 to drop from 12th place to 14th... The problems continue for the Las Vegas Rat Pack, who fell another game off the pace for the Hanover Division lead after going 2-6. They've lost 10 out of their last 12 games and suddenly find themselves in a virtual tie with Vancouver for the top wildcard spot... The Philadelphia Endzone Animals dropped 4 out of 6, falling all the way from 5th to 8th -- though they're just 1 game out of the post-season... Also going 2-4 were the Phoenix Dragons, who remained in 11th place... The best of the losers this week were the South Boston Gang, who went 3-5 to fall one spot to 10th place, 3 games out of final wildcard spot.

The week ahead: The Cutters will hope to fend off a challenge from playoff hopefuls as they take on the Hired Hitmen and Golden Falcons, while the Mudcats will look to put more distance between themselves and the rest of the pack with a six-game homestand featuring the Rat Pack and Mighty Men.

Fantastic in Philly

Last week it was Arkansas's Danny Haren making a name for himself as the Pitcher of the Week; now it's Philly's John Patterson who has batters scurrying to find him on videotape. A free agent signed last year and kept tucked away in the minors, Patterson was having a mediocre season -- until this week, when he blew away two playoff contenders in back-to-back dominating starts. two dominating starts. Against Hoboken, Patterson went the distance in a 2-0 shutout, allowing just 4 hits, 2 walks and 1 hit batsman while striking out 9. His next start, in Las Vegas, may have been even more impressive as he held the Rats to just 1 run on 6 hits and no walks in a 7-1 win. He only pitched 6.1 innings, but struck out 8. Patterson's two wins were, in fact, his team's only victories this week. His performance against Hoboken was this week's only shutout; he was one of just two pitchers to win both his starts; and he led te league in strikeouts (17). On the week, he posted an 0.59 ERA, 7.6 R/9 and walked just 2 batters. Add it all up and he's easily the Zidane Head-Butt Game Pitcher of the Week! over the first half of the season, Patterson was 6-7 with a 5.31 ERA; he's since gone 3-0 in his next four starts (and the team won his no-decision), posting a 1.16 ERA, 7.5 R/9 and walking 6 while striking out 29 in 31.0 IP. His overall numbers have improved to 9-7 with a 4.45 ERA.  Patterson credits his new-found success to Animals' pitching coach Dave Righetti. "Rags has a simple philosophy, throw strikes," Patterson said. "Actually, now that I think about it, that's been the philosophy of every pitching coach I've ever had. I just never listened before."

The other starter who won both his games this week needs no introduction to DMBL batters: Arkansas's Pedro Martinez (1.80 ERA, 10.2 R/9, 2 BB, 10 K in 15.0 IP)... This week's other top starters: Carolina's Roy Halladay (1-0, 0 ER, 2 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 12 K in 8.2 IP); Hoboken's Carlos Silva (1-0, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K in 9.0 IP); Honolulu's Roy Oswalt (1-0, 0 R, 16 H, 1 BB, 15 K in 14.0 IP); and Westwood's Chris Capuano (1-1, 2.08 ERA, 9.7 R/9, 3 ER, 13 H, 1 BB, 10 K in 13.0 IP).

None of the top three relievers in saves had one this week, and the relief point standings remained largely unchanged as well. Hoboken's Jason Isringhausen (2 SV, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K in 2.1 IP) and Vancouver's Billy Wagner (2 SV, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 K in 2.2 IP) jumped into a tie for 4th overall in saves after tying with three other relievers for the most saves this week... This week's other top relievers: Arkansas's Brad Lidge (1 W, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 6 K in 5.0 IP); D.C.'s Jamie Walker  (1 W, 2 SV, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K in 3.1 IP); Hillsborough's Bobby Jenks (1 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 10 K in 6.0 IP); Honolulu's Derrick Turnbow (2 SV, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K in 3.0 IP) and South Boston's Mike Timlin (1 SV, 0 R, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 7 appearances).

The Giam-Bino!

It was vintage Jason Giambi this week as the Honolulu slugger did what he does best -- take and rake. Giambi had 7 extra base hits and 9 walks in just 8 games this week, leading the league in OBP (.571), SLG (1.000), OPS (1.571), RBIs (12), walks, intentional walks (2), runs created (15.3), RC/27 (27.6) total average (2.538) and secondary average (.917). He also hit .458 with 4 doubles and 3 home runs. Giambi missed almost all of last season due to, well, for legal purposes, we can't say what we think the problem was, exactly. But hypothetically, let's say he owned a Steer named Roy, and that fella made all sorts of trouble. Anyway, Giambi got into just 7 games last year (though he did post a .286 BA, .905 OPS and drive in 4 runs), and this year there was hardly a peep when he was left off the All-Star team for just the fourth time in his 10-year career. This year, while his .238 BA is still way off his career batting average of .295, Giambi is doing everything else right, with .413 OBP, .501 SLG, 30 HR, 68 RBI and 110 BB in 116 games. For his huge week, Giambi wins this week's OmahaSteaks.com Batter of the Week Award -- his first since Week 13, 2004. "Wow, you don't realize how good these steaks are until you haven't had one in two years," said Giambi between mouthfuls. "Er... you didn't feed me my steer Roy, did you?" No Jason, we didn't: OmahaSteaks.com uses only all-natural beef.

South Boston's Vladimir Guerrero came closest to denying Giambi his steaks (.424, 1.381 OPS, 5 HR, 9 RBI). It looks like this will be the fourth straight season Vlad (.302, 30 HR, 88 RBI) will top a .300 BA, 30 HR and 100 RBIs... Vancouver's Michael Young had his hitting streak snapped at 29 games -- which is still the longest this season -- and then moped about it all week, hitting just .206 with a .485 OPS... Now, the league's longest active streak belongs to Marietta's Morgan Ensberg, who has a hit in 15 straight games. This week, Ensberg hit .344 (1.120 OPS) with 2 2B, 3 HR and 6 RBI... This week's other top batters: Arkansas's David Wright (.321, 1.103 OPS, 3 HR, 11 RBI), Carolina's Bill Hall (.462, 1.272 OPS, 2 HR, 8 R); D.C.'s Jimmy Rollins (.429, 1.110 OPS, 6 2B, 5 RBI); Hoboken's Chad Tracy (.417, 1.125 OPS, 4 2B, 6 RBI); Las Vegas's Mark Teixeira (.321, 1.100 OPS, 2 HR, 7 RBI); Marietta's Wily Mo Pena (.421, 1.503 OPS, 3 HR, 6 RBI); Newark's Chipper Jones (.407, 1.152 OPS, 4 2B, 8 RBI); Philly's Frank Catalanotto (.478, 1.216 OPS, 3 2B, 5 R); and Vancouver's Eric Chavez (.400, 1.483 OPS, 4 HR, 11 RBI).

This week's stolen base leaders, brought to you by Danica Patrick's career-best fourth-place finish in the Firestone 200 -- OK, we admit we just made that up in order to have the picture of Danica, but she's cute as a button! Er, where were we? Oh  yeah, stolen base leaders: D.C.'s Carl Crawford (6 SB, 1 CS); Hillsborough's Juan Pierre (4 SB, 1 CS); Arkansas's Kenny Lofton (3 SB, 1 CS); Hillsborough's Carlos Lee (2 SB, 0 CS); Honolulu's Johnny Damon (2 SB, 0 CS); Westwood's Jose Reyes (2 SB, 0 CS); and Las Vegas's Ryan Freel (2 SB, 1 CS)... On the season, Las Vegas's Chone Figgins -- who was 1-for-2 on the basepaths this week -- continues to lead the field with 51 SB (in 64 attempts). He's on pace to steal 72 bases, which would leave him six shy of the record set by Kenny Lofton with Vancouver in 1997. Figgins is followed by Pierre (32-47) and Freel (31-40). The most successful basestealer this season is Reyes, who is 23-for-26 (.885 SB%), an excellent percentage but far off the all-time record of 29-for-30 (.967 SB%), set last season by Newark's Bobby Abreu. The only player with an outside chance is Hillsborough's Alex Rodriguez, who is a perfect 10-for-10 -- but you need at least 20 stolen base attempts to qualify for the record.

Boo!

The injury bug has been biting the Sugar Bears hard recently. Just after the All-Star Break they finally got back Nick Johnson and Jeff DaVanon after each missed more than a month; last week, they lost Manny Ramirez for the second time in three weeks, putting him out for a total of 12 games; and this week they lost both shortstop Carlos Guillen and utility infielder Damion Easley. Easley, claiming Guillen has been possessed by demons, has gone searching for an old priest and a young priest. Guillen says he's not possessed -- but when his head started doing 360s in the clubhouse, the team decided to play it safe and put him on the 15-day D.L. In an apparently related story, Marietta's Victor Diaz has been throwing up pea soup for the last week.

Speaking of the supernatural, Phoenix's So Taguchi reports his locker is haunted by the ghost of Darryl Kile and refuses to suit up. It freaked out Wily Taveras so much that he announced he will quit baseball, at least until Snakes on a Plane comes out later this summer. "Snakes and flying are the only two things that scare me more than ghosts, so I figure, I see that movie and this will be no sweat," Taveras said. But the ghost of Kile, reached for comment via Ouija board, denied ever setting a spectral foot inside the Phoenix locker room. "I never played for them," he said. "Arkansas, Columbia, Hawaii, Newark, Tijuana, Philly. Besides, if I was going to haunt a clubhouse, would I really pick an 11th-place team?" 

Last Call

The trading deadline -- July 16 at midnight -- has come and gone. There was just one trade made over the first 16 weeks of the season, but the league caught up in a hurry in a frantic final week that saw 11 deals made involving 22 players and 14 picks. For a full recap, check out the all-new edition of Trade Talk With Chris Nabholz.

Sunday night also was the deadline to sign free agents eligible for next year's protected lists, and as expected there was a flurry of activity in the final week. There were so many players changing teams that we summed it up with the following chart:

Team	Additions	Subtractions
Arkansas	SS Clint Barmes (waivers) OF Chris Burke (free agent) 3B Aaron Hill (waivers) SP Jason Jennings (free agent) RP Rudy Seanez (free agent)	RP Ryan Dempster (released) 2B Adam Kennedy (released) 1B Casey Kotchman (released) 2B Adam Kennedy (released) RP Russ Springer (released)
Carolina	SP Ted Lilly (free agent)	SP Wandy Rodriguez (released)
D.C.	SP Brandon Backe (free agent) C Johnny Estrada (trade) OF Pedro Feliz (free agent) SP Jamie Moyer (free agent) SS Jose Reyes (trade) RP Jamie Walker (free agent)	SP Mark Buehrle (traded) RP Brendan Donnelly (released) SP Tom Glavine (traded) 3B Troy Glaus (traded)  3B Aaron Hill (released) C Bengie Molina (traded) SS Jimmy Rollins (traded) OF Scott Podsednik (traded)
Hoboken	3B David Bell (free agent) P Jorge Sosa (trade) RP Jose Valverde (trade)	OF Xavier Nady (released) OF Brady Clark (released) RP Bob Wickman (released)
Las Vegas	RP Aaron Fultz (trade) 1B Derrek Lee (trade) OF Gary Sheffield (trade)	OF Jonny Gomes (traded) 1B Scott Hatteberg (traded) SP Aaron Sele (traded)
Marietta	OF Jonny Gomes (trade) C Bengie Molina (trade) OF Scott Podsednik (trade)	C Johnny Estrada (traded) RP Aaron Fultz (traded) OF Gary Sheffield (traded)
Newark	SP Zach Duke (trade) OF Bobby Kielty (free agent) RP Scott Linebrink (trade) SS Jimmy Rollins (trade) 1B Mark Sweeney (free agent)	SS Orlando Cabrera (traded) RP Akinori Otsuka (traded) RP Chris Reitsma (released) 2B Junior Spivey (released)
Philadelphia	OF Brady Clark (waivers) SP Vicente Padilla (free agent) SP Brandon Webb (trade)	OF Emil Brown (released) SP Brad Hennessey (traded) SP Zach Greinke (released)
Phoenix	RP Akinori Otsuka (trade)	RP Scott Linebrink (traded) P Jorge Sosa (traded)
Vancouver	SP Mark Buehrle (trade) RP Brendan Donnelly (waivers)	SP Brandon Claussen (released) RP Chris Hammond (released)
Westwood	SS Orlando Cabrera (trade) 3B Troy Glaus (trade) SP Tom Glavine (trade) 1B Scott Hatteberg (trade) SP Brad Hennessey (trade) SP Aaron Sele (trade)	SP Zach Duke (traded) 3B Brandon Inge (released) 1B Derrek Lee (traded) SS Jose Reyes (traded) RP Jose Valverde (traded) SP Brandon Webb (traded)

The above list doesn't include 1B/3B Eric Hinske, who was signed by Marietta and then released three days later... The Bushslappers made the most moves this week, turning over nearly half their roster -- 14 players! They also led the league in most total subtractions (8), most players traded away (6) and most free agents signed (4), and tied with Westwood for most total additions (6). Westwood also led the league in most players added through trade (6). Arkansas led the league in players released (5) and made the most waiver wire claims (2). The only teams to make no moves in the final week were Hillsborough, Honolulu and South Boston.